Devils in Love
by Mako3
Summary: [Digital Devil Saga] At the end of all things, Heat has something left to do. MAJOR SPOILERS FOR DDS 2 INSIDE! Valentine's Day inspired and has a Heat x Spoiler Name pairing. If you know the spoiler, you can probably guess who.


In case you missed it in the summary SUPER-DUPER SPOILERS FOR DIGITAL DEVIL SAGA 2!!!!!! DO NOT READ if you don't want to be spoiled about a rather major event that happens quite near the end of the game. The spoiler involves Sera and Serph, and if you've played far enough, you know what I mean. If not, and you don't want to spoil yourself, then don't go any further!!

Otherwise, enjoy! A little something for Valentine's Day!

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Devils in Love

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He had made it into a joke, commenting that Sera and Serph had grown closer then he was strictly comfortable with. The truth was, Heat wasn't sure how exactly he should react to this new being.

In the beginning there was Serph. He was the leader Heat and the others needed even before the concept of need became clear to them. Despite frequently disagreeing with their leader's tactics — before and after the demonic change — there was no doubt of the respect Heat had for Serph. He literally followed Serph to the end of the world twice now, and if given the choice to try it once more, he would do the same in a heartbeat. They were as close as brothers now, and Heat would never forget that Serph had believed in him all along, never doubting that the fire demon would come to his senses and rejoin the Embryon — rejoin with Serph. With all he had been through and all he knew now, Heat could admit he loved Serph. Not in the way his blood went hot for Sera, but it was a love all the same and no longer would Heat turn his back on it.

Sera had been an icy cool wind against the flame in his heart, touching him in all the right places and driving him mad for the chance to feel that breath of relief once more. She was kindhearted and needed to be held close, protected and hidden away from the real world — which ironically was once a world she herself had created. Heat loved her purity, her goodwill, and everything that was the opposite of himself. None of the others — Serph, Argilla, Cielo, or Gale — had ever needed Heat the way Sera made him feel needed. He had driven himself to ruin trying to prove to her that she did need him and not Serph at all. Heat loved the possessive strength he felt when Sera was near, and Heat loved Sera.

Now the brother he loved and respected, and the woman he loved and needed to feel whole were one and the same. How was Heat supposed to handle that? Seraph was gentle while floating above the ground and harsh in dealing with enemies. Seraph was perfectly self-reliant but still craved the presence of teammates. All the aspects of masculine and feminine twisted together, Seraph was perfect. One glance showed him the leader he'd served under for so long, while another look gave him the glimpse of a girl who only sought to bring love and peace to everyone. Even Seraph's hair was a perfect balance of frosty silver and jet black, reflective and absorbing. Utter perfection. Heat couldn't help imagining what running his hands over the solid muscle of Seraph's arms before moving on to gently squeeze those small, soft breasts would feel like. And that only led to thoughts of what was under the silver codpiece — and how Heat really had no preference of what was under there as long as it could be _his_.

"Heat, mon, I'm glad to have you back on da team, but I wish you'd stop staring at Seraph like you want to eat her. . . him. . . eh, whatever Seraph is." Cielo's whispered comment shocked Heat out of the halfway trance he'd been in while pondering on their leader. He hadn't realized he'd been staring at Seraph that intensely. Thankfully, Cielo seemed to be the only one who noticed since none of the other Embryon were even looking his way.

"Shut up. I don't want to eat them, I just. . ." how could he possibly communicate to Cielo what he was feeling for the being that had formerly been their leader and their savior? He didn't even know himself except that Seraph was now everything he ever wanted and needed in another person. But Heat would be damned before he admitted something like that to Cielo.

"You know, I almost think I know what you're tryin' to say. It's weird seein' both of 'dem as one person, but I can't help thinkin' this is how they were supposed to be, ya? And I can't help but want to get closer to 'dat perfection," he paused, staring at Seraph for a moment and letting Heat process his remarks. The fire demon was shocked and somewhat dismayed to hear that whatever feelings were flowing through his ethereal veins were not specific only to him. If Cielo was finding himself attracted to Seraph the same way Heat was, then perhaps Heat was once again just another player in a team and no one special — no one to be noticed . . . no one worthy of attention from Seraph. . .

"Maybe I should ask Argilla if she wants to get a bit closer — 'den again she'd probably be more interested in doing 'dat with Jinana." Cielo paused again, thinking it over "But if two women merge together, can 'dat form an ultimate being, or would it just make some sort of 'uber-woman'?" Cielo gave a very thoughtful "hm", and Heat wasn't sure whether he was joking about the idea or not. He really wasn't sure he wanted to know, either. Whether he was serious or not, Cielo had bolstered Heat up again in his feelings for Seraph. Cielo seemed to want to become an ultimate being like Seraph. Heat just wanted Seraph. There was no interest in merging with anyone in a metaphysical way, just merging with Seraph in a very physical way.

Cielo and Heat were falling behind the group a bit to prevent anyone from overhearing their interesting conversation topics. Cielo took even more care with his next few words, sidling up close to Heat and whispering in his ear. "You know, 'dis might just be the end of the line for us, whether we win or lose. So if you got something to say to somebody, the time is now, ya? Don't waste your second chance." After giving his words of wisdom, Cielo bounded away to join in conversation with Gale and Argilla. Heat smirked and wondered if the cheerful lightning demon would actually ask about the logistics of Argilla and Jinana merging. He might not want to miss that conversation.

Although he had turned against his companions in a surge of madness, but he still remembered those moments when the Embryon were like a well-oiled machine, every member fitting in perfectly and doing their part. Life had been good. _Had _been. Cielo was right, essentially they were all dead and on their way to kill God. This was it. Maybe if they defeated God there would still be something afterward, like being reborn. Or perhaps the world would end even if they succeeded. It was a lot to think about, and Heat far preferred action to forever reasoning through things — that was why they had Gale, after all. And since Gale was currently discussing something rather fervently with Argilla and Cielo (Heat was amused to see the pink haired sniper blushing), that meant Seraph was alone.

Striding past his teammates, catching the wink Cielo sent his way, Heat went to confront his last earthly desire.

"Yo, Ser — Seraph," already off to a bad start, Heat immediately cursed himself. What's worse is he wasn't sure which name he was about to call out, Sera or Serph. Seraph either hadn't caught the slip, or didn't mind. Both had been rather lax and forgiving before the merge so Heat could only imagine the depths of mercy in their combined form. The leader of Embryon stopped walking for a few paces to let Heat catch up. Cielo, Argilla, and Gale fell just a bit more behind. If, by the grace of Karma, they all made it out of this mess more or less alive, Heat would have to remember to thank the jokester for going through the trouble.

"What's going on?" The voice was more Sera than Serph, but considering how little Serph had spoken in his own body, it only made sense. "Something wrong?" Seeing as how Heat had just decided to barge in and do this confession thing, he had failed to plan out how he was going to go about admitting he loved Seraph. Now he was stuck with nothing to say and with the object of his affection staring at him and waiting with patient and accepting eyes.

"I. . ." Damn, it was too much. So what if he loved Seraph?! His feelings for both before the merge had only led to bitter feelings and sadness, so why would Seraph want to hear a confession now? Forget thanking Cielo, he was going to strangle him for putting this "last confession" bullshit in his head. "Never mind, let's just keep going."

Seraph gave him a concerned glance and Heat was sure they were going to call him out on the evasion, but just then a pair of Girimehkala decided to take that moment to show up and attempt to eat the valiant fighters of Embryon. Seraph, Heat, and Gale transformed into their demon forms and lined up to take the enemy on, as was their usual line up. Gale had suggested it, telling the team that Seraph was proficient in magics while Heat covered physical strength, and Gale was there to balance the equation. So far through four layers of the sun it had been a prime arrangement.

Knowing the Girimehkalas' weakness, Seraph cast Mahamoan on the pair or giant elephants, sapping away their health and making both beasts shrink back in fear. Heat wasted no time and tore into the brutes, ingesting all of them. By the time Gale was ready for action, there was nothing left to do. It was the third time in as many battles that the force demon hadn't needed to take a turn.

"I am beginning to think I'm not needed here," Gale commented to Seraph. "You and Heat seem to have everything well in hand. Since you two are more or less attuned to each other, myself as a third wheel might only serve to hinder your fighting prowess." The tone was light, for Gale, but the logical Embryon member was not known for his jokes or kidding around. Either Gale really thought there was something between Heat and Seraph that didn't exist with Seraph and anyone else, or Gale getting soft.

Vayu touched Agni lightly on the shoulder. "It is good to have you fighting with us again. We weren't complete without you." With that, Gale reverted and left Heat and Seraph alone again. Agni reverted back to Heat and followed Gale with his gaze only to find both Cielo and Argilla smiling at him. Heat bristled with embarrassed anger at everyone seeming to know his feelings. He turned away to storm off, but instead he ran straight into a freshly reverted Seraph.

"I agree with Gale, you know. When you were missing something just didn't feel right." This was Serph shining through briefly — distinguishing his personality from Seraph's, since after all, Sera was only around for a brief time when they were a team. Heat hated taking compliments and never knew what to say so he simply mumbled a "Well I'm glad to be back," and left it at that. Or he tried to leave it like that, but now Seraph was _looking_ at him with a mixture of adoration and something else, something that made the back of Heat's throat close up and his breath seize in his chest.

Heat couldn't help himself. He grabbed Seraph by the shoulders and pulled the fused being close. Sera flew to the surface then and Heat felt appalled at the same look of panic on her face he had induced once before. He pushed them away so they were separated by the entire length of Heat's arms, but he refused to let go of Seraph until he was done.

"I'm not going to force you again," he growled out, "I just need to tell you that I love you before the world ends!"

There. It was out. And as soon as Heat realized what he'd said, the redhead turned away to the side and let Seraph go. "So there you have it. I love you. Both of you. All of you." He wouldn't look at Seraph, couldn't bear to see whatever expression was on that perfect meld of Serph and Sera.

"You know, to be honest, I haven't thought of loving anyone else. There is Sera, and there is Serph, and we loved each other," It was odd hearing Seraph refer to the separate sections from before the merge. And the speech so far wasn't helping Heat's damaged confidence. He knew it was stupid to confess like that, but now that he'd said it, he wouldn't take it back. Seraph went on, "But now that we are one, we still have love to give. And both of us know what a rare gift you give by loving us both as one being." Seraph had closed the distance Heat had put between them and touched Heat's face, gently moving his head so their gazes met.

"I would not waste that love. And I think. . . if there is anyone who exists that I could love in return, it would be you, Heat. We go together nicely. Fire and Ice, you know?" Though the words were teasing, Seraph was serious, moving closer to Heat's face and gently touching their lips together. It was brief, and Seraph floated away afterward, smiling sweetly. Heat was frozen in bewildered shock. Seraph had just. . .

"So when we have defeated God and saved the world, we will share our love. I'll make sure it happens." Heat believed Seraph, believed that there would be a life after their battle. A life they would share together. He smiled back confidently and nodded.

"Woo-hoo, a little bit of PDA there! Nice going, brother!" Cielo snickered cheerfully even though Argilla smacked him in the back of the head. She shrugged apologetically at Heat and went back to scolding Cielo for his thoughtless actions. Gale was somber, but gave a quick nod to show his approval. Heat's smile never wavered.

"Screw you, punk. After we defeat God, I've got a date with an ultimate being."

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END

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I love Heat. Well, I haven't finished the game yet, so I'm not sure what happens in the end. Now I'm stuck earning money so I can complete everyone's mantra grid. Yikes. So it might be a while before I finish. Still, I had to write this since I love DDS and it needs much more fandom then it has. Thanks for reading!!


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